OLD BARN № 075

When I am out photographing barns, I always get a kick when one of the animals nearby turns to check me out. 😁 The beautiful horse in the field surprised me by turning to look because I was actually quite far away at the time. The above photo was taken using the zoom on my camera.

I'm not a good judge of distance, but looking at an aerial photo and map online helped me estimate that the barn was probably 460 feet (140 meters) from where I took the photo, so the horse must have been about 438 feet (134 meters) away at the time. The screenshot below shows where I was (Marker 1) when I took the shot with the horse, and the horse was somewhere between the head of that arrow and the barn. Marker 2 shows where the other photos of the barn were taken.

^{screenshot from BING Maps}

When I first encountered this barn it was rather plain in appearance, but in an excellent state of repair. It is obviously well cared-for and part of an actual working farm. Off the large drive-bay in the center are stables for sheltering livestock during inclement weather. The hay-door above is for loading hay to store in the loft. To the left is an attached storage shed for stashing tools, tack, and other items.

Some years later, I revisited this barn and found it had been decorated with old signage. The farm now bears the name of "Flint Hill Farms" which is prominent on the sign over the drive bay. There is also a large sign celebrating the triumph of a local collegiate football team as well as a large array of old car tags. Various other items hang on the side of the barn as decorations: a cross-cut saw, cast-iron skillets, an old oil-lantern, the horns of a young buck deer, reels like those used for movie film, a pair of Greek "comedy and tragedy" masks, a bowling ball, bowling pins, and a curious collection of other items.

For those who like to zoom-in and read all the signs and see all the kitsch, here is the original 5312x2988 pixel photo, so you can zoom until your heart is content (if the blockchain will allow me to upload such a large pic)!

This barn was also the site of where I met Gruff McGoat sometime back, shown in the following photo! 🐐 He had somehow gotten out of his fenced-in pasture and was happily chewing something yummy that was growing alongside the road! 🙂

As with many of the recently-shared barns in my Old Barn Project, OLD BARN № 075 is located in the same general area of the county. It is slightly right and above-center in the following aerial view. Yet-to-be-featured barns appear as white dots, while the numbers indicate barns I've already shown.

^{screenshot from BING Maps}

This barn was also one that I accidentally catalogued twice, and had to post another structure a while back, instead. The accident happened when I drove down one road and saw the back of the barn (the first photo, with the horse) then continued without turning onto the side road that passed in-front of the barn. Then, another day I came down the side road, not realizing I was seeing the other-side of a barn I'd already photographed.

So, this barn holds several distinctions:

• the barn with the horse looking at me
• the barn with Gruff McGoat
• the barn that was decorated after my first visit
• one of the barns with many signs on it
• the barn I accidentally cataloged twice
• one of the few barns very close to the road